Shell.



F. E. SUTTERFIELD.

SHELL.

APPLICATION man mm. :s'. new.

Patented Oct. 16, 1917.

INVENTOR F E. uflevfield,

A TTORN [y STATS SHELL.

Specification of Letters -Patent.

Patented Oct. 16, 193.7.

Application fi1ed,March 13, 1917. Serial No. 154,603.

a citizen of the, United. States, residing at Flat River, in the county of Saint Francois andState of Missouri, have inve ted new ,and useful Improvements in S rolls, of

which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to ammunition, and more particularly to explosive shells; and the object of the same is to provide the shell with means for exploding its charge on impact and; means" for preventing accidental explosion by impact in case the shell is dropped or otherwise roughly handled before it hasbeen fired from'the gun.

In carrying out this object t e invention consists'inthe provision of sparking devices actuated byfa battery stored; within the shell and connected by a normally broken circuit, and within the break thereof is a circuit closer standing normally open "and which "can be only-closed and is automatically closed byf the indentation of the rear end plate of the shell which is purposely made pliable so that it is bent by the force of the firing charge within the gun.

One successful means I for carrying. out this idea is set forth in the following specification and claims and shown in the drawings, wherein- Figure 1 1s a central longitudinal sectional vview of the shell complete,

Fig. 2 isa cross-section online 2-2 of Fig. 1.

The shell comprises a casing 1, whose body and point are; preferably integral but the rear end is open, and this .end is covered a rear end plate 2,'which is of pliable metal so that it shall belindented as shown two batteries 10 and 11,

in the dotted lines in' Fig. 1, when the shell .is fired from thegun and by impact of.the

the charge which so fires or Within the shell just forward 3, carrying an of the latter is a transverse partition 5, This partition closes therea-r end of a tube 6, held withln the shell and preferably concentric therewith by means ofbraces 7,'said tube defining a battery chamber 8, whoseforward'end may wellbe closed as at 9-. The charge of explosive is disposed within the annular chambersurrounding the tube as indicated.

Vvithin ,fthe battery chamber is a source of electricity herein shown as made up of and aspark coil 12,

explosion of projects it. p of said end plate 1s a splder .the batteries are of the dry-cell type their side'terminals may be removed and the centerterminal of the one indicated as at 13, placed in electrical contact with the bottom of the next battery and the central terminal the forward battery connected as at 14: with, one end of the spark coil. lfhe latter may or may not be used but I prefer to employ it in order to produce a decided spark so that the charge of the explosive will be exploded without fail. For this purpose I employ sparking devices made up of two elements which are normally out of contact. Que element is herein shown as a collar'fastened on the stem 16 of a plunger which is slidably mounted in uids 17 at'the front end of the casing and in the front end 9 of the tube, and whose head 18 stands normally beyond the point of the casing so that when it strikes an'object it is driven inward by impact; and the rear .,end of said stem is electrically connected as at 19 with the forward end of the coil 12. The other element of the sparking device is a contact point or finger 20 carried by and'ins'ulated from a bracket 21, mounted on some fixed point of the casing or tube, and this finger stands in such position that when the plunger. and collar are driven to the'rear by impact, a wiping contact is made between the two elements and a decided spark'is produced. 'An insulatedw-ire 22 leads from the finger back through th'e'shell and is adapted for connection withthe loweriend- .of the rear most battery end so as to-forni acomplete circuit when the plunger-is driven inward as stated.

with the parts constructed as thus far described, there isof course danger that whilethe shell is being handled preparatoryto placing it in the gun and firing it, through some carelessness or accident it may be dropped; and if it should fall on the point so'that the head of the pliunger strikes the ground, or if the accident becneflwhich delivers a blow on the head. 18, the sparking device will be energized and the shell e5:- ploded, to the seriousinjury and possible death of those who are near; My inventlon contemplates the provision of means for safeguarding against accidents of this character, which means may properly bestated as consisting ofbreaking the circuit and inserting a circuit breaker in such break, and closing the circuit breaker and circuit automatically only when the shell is fired.

"This safety device renders it obviously" impossible to explode the shell prematurely,'be-' cause impact on the head, of the plunger will not actuate the sparking devices unless and until the circuit is a closed one.

. Mounted'on the rear end of the 'rearmost battery is a contact 25, constituting on'eele ment of said circuit closer. Slidably mounted in the guide 4 of the spider 3 is the stem '26 of another plunger to which the Wire 22 is connected and the inner .end of the; stem is normally spaced slightly from the con-' tact 25 and constitutes the other-element of the circuit closer. The head27, of .the said plunger is connected with or'rests' against the center of the'pliable end plate 2. With this construction,'wh en the end plate is i'n-' "dented at the time 'the shell is fired. from the gun, the plunger. is driven inward within the guide 4 and its inner end contacts with the element'25 so that the circuit is no longer I broken, excepting that as yet it is interrupt- 'ed at the point where the spark is to be formed. But as the end plate is" purposely so heavy that it cannot be indented by hand Y or accident or in any way excepting by the I .viously also, the source of electrlcity may be .any which will produce a suitable spark.

;Other additions and changes'may'be made.

as the necessities of the case demand.

What I claim as new is:-

"1.. A shell comprising a casing, a tube therein defining a chamber, an explosive around the tube, a partition within'the casing and across the. end of the tube, said partition having a guide opposite the chamber, and a pliable plate closing the rear end of the casing; combined with a battery withthe chamber, sparking points whereof one is connected to said battery, a plunger attached to said end plate of the casing and extending thence through said guide with its inner end adjacent the battery whereby it is thrown into electric contact therewith by the firing of the shell, and electrical connections between said plunger and the other spark point.

2. A shell comprising a casing, a tube therein closed'at its front end'and defining. a chamber, an explosive around the tube, a

source of electric energy within said chem her, a plunger whose stem is movably moilnted through the" front end of the casing and front end of the tube, hose inner end is connected with said source and whose outer end carries a head standin normally beyond the shell-casing, I spark-producing elements whereof one is connected with said plunger,

and "a Wire-leading from the other to the rear end of the casing; combined with normally open. circuit-closing mechanism between said wire .and the rear end of said source, and means for closing said mechanism by impact due to firing the shell.

3. A shell comprising acasing, a tube therein'closed at its front end and defining a chamber, an explosive around'the tube,'.a

source of electric energy within said. chamher, a plunger movably mounted-through the front end of the casing-and front end of the .tube, and whose .inner end is-connected with ed by impact when the shell is fired and adapted to actuatesaid circuit closer when so indented.

4. A shell comprising a casing, a tube therein closed at its front end and defining a chamber, a partition within the casing across the rear endof the tube, an explesive charge within the casing around the. tube, and a source of electric energy within the chamber; combined'with a plunger movably mounted through the front end of the casing andtube with its inner end connected with said source, spark producing elements outside said tube within the casing and whereof one is connectedwith said plunger, a wire leading from the other, a pliable plate closing the rear end of the casing, a guide within the latter adjacent said plate, and a plunger attached. to the plate and passing through saidguide and partition and into the rea end of the tube and adapted to make contact with said source when the plate is indented by the firing'of the shell, said wire being connected with this plunger. In testimony whereof I ailix-my signature.

FRED E. SUTTERFIELD. 

